THERE will come a point in the lifetime of every vehicle when it has become old and worn and needs to be scrapped.
Although there is nothing you can do about this, you can prolong the life of the vehicle through good driving.
Most of the time, we don’t think about how our driving habits can affect the way our vehicle runs, however every strain that we put on our vehicle can have a long term negative effect on how the car works and lead to damage and eventual breakage.
A lot of the time, cars have to be scrapped early due to poor driving habits and at Car.co.uk, we’ve found the top 3 bad driving habits that lead to vehicles being scrapped.
Check out these three habits that can lead to your car being scrapped early and see if you do any of them:
- Abrupt acceleration and breaking
- Keeping your hand on the gearstick
- Ignoring warning lights
Abrupt acceleration and breaking
Whether on purpose or by accident, all of us have been guilty of sudden acceleration or breaking at some point whilst driving, although it may seem like a minor problem, this can be detrimental to your vehicle over time.
Not only are you straining the different components of the car, and using precious fuel, but all of the tear on your breaks will cause the brake pads and rotors to wear, parts of the vehicle that are essential to your safety.
Keeping your hand on the gearstick
There are some driving habits that really are dangerous and can cause obvious damage to your vehicle, however, sometimes we become lazy as drivers and develop habits that may seem normal, but have a long-term effect on the car, and keeping your hand on the gearstick is one of them.
It may seem like a pretty harmless, but the gearstick is connected to the selector fork and this makes contact with the rotating cuff to change the gears. When you keep your hand pressed down on the gearstick it keeps the pressure on the connection and leaves long term wear on the fork.
This may not seem like a big problem at first, but it will develop overtime.
Ignoring warning lights
Ignoring vital warning lights could mean that you’re stuck with a broken-down vehicle because you weren’t sure what needed to be changed and when.
There are of course, some warning lights that will arise, and you can put off the problem for a little while, however, it is essential that you know what each warning light means on your vehicle.
If you are unsure, check online or in a vehicle handbook, that way you’ll know which parts of the car need checking and if you need to seek professional help.
These are three mistakes that can definitely be avoided by safe and efficient driving, however, there are several other things you can do to prevent your vehicle from an early scrappage.
However, if you do decide that it’s time to say goodbye to your vehicle, and you want to make some money from it, then you can find your closest scrap yard on Car.co.uk. They will give you a free and instant valuation for the vehicle and even offer to collect it for free, it’s the hassle free way to scrap your car.
